Editorial: How to increase traffic safety for those on foot

Walking may be healthier than driving, but that's true only as long as motorists and pedestrians focus on safety. Too often, that's not the case.

Five pedestrians died in Ventura County and 212 were hurt during 2010 — about 18 a month, on average — according to a comprehensive report from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

The toll was highest in Oxnard, where one pedestrian was killed and 69 injured in 2010 (that's the most recent year for which comprehensive figures are available), followed in order by Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Camarillo.

Statewide, 623 people on foot were killed and 12,668 injured in that single year — a horrific toll of suffering, tragedy and loss.

Yet, there is no simplistic answer to this problem. That was made clear in a news article in The Star last week, reporting on legal claims by attorneys on behalf of four pedestrians severely injured last May.

The four — a woman and three girls — were struck by a minivan in Thousand Oaks as they were crossing Thousand Oaks Boulevard, a major thoroughfare in a commercial area.

The four were hit while they were in a marked crosswalk that was adorned with bright striping and "yield" diamonds on the street pavement.

It even was equipped with crosswalk beacons to call drivers' attention to it. You might assume all those features would have done the trick. But according to attorneys representing the pedestrians, the attention-grabbing safety features had the opposite effect.

They called it "a dizzying display of pavement lights, which tended to distract the attention and focus of drivers away from pedestrians crossing the street."

The irony in that line of reasoning is too striking to ignore, even though we don't intend to pass judgment prematurely on the argument nor to disparage the right of injured people to seek justice.

But in addition to installing all those safety features, the city was aggressive in enforcing traffic laws in that area. Police regularly conducted sting operations on Thousand Oaks Boulevard and ticketed drivers who failed to yield to pedestrians. One sting ended less than an hour before the minivan hit the woman and girls in the crosswalk.

All of which tells us there's no substitute for drivers being attentive at every moment they're behind the wheel. No safety equipment can substitute for that.

Pedestrians, too, need to be alert and aware of their surroundings, including paying close attention to approaching traffic and making eye contact with drivers when possible.

The report from the state Office of Traffic Safety shows that pedestrians' deaths and injuries overwhelmingly occurred while they were crossing a street or roadway, and most often while they were in a crosswalk.